• Supreme Court to hear challenge to campaign donation limits

    By Pete Williams, Chief Justice Correspondent, NBC News

     

    The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to delve once again into the controversial issue of limits on money in politics.

    This time, it's the limits placed by federal law on how much an individual can contribute to candidates and political organizations.

    The court today agreed to take up a challenge brought by an Alabama man who claims it's unconstitutional to prevent him from giving more than $46,200 to candidates and $70,800 to PACs and political committees. He does not challenge the limit on contributions to an individual candidate, but he does claim it's unconstitutional to prevent him from contributing to as many candidates as he wishes.

    The Republican National Committee joins him in the challenge.

  • Super PACs haven't become the bogeyman many feared

    By Michael O'Brien, NBC News

     

    A 2010 Supreme Court decision was supposed to herald a new era of special interests' influence in elections, giving rise to shadowy outside spending groups -- "super PACs" -- that could take advantage of unlimited corporate campaign spending.

    President Barack Obama and other Democrats openly fretted that the court's 2010 "Citizens United" ruling, which struck down limits on corporate political spending, would allow big business to marshal their resources to bend the law to suit their own purposes.

    But with just less than two weeks until the election, super PACs have hardly been the overt bogeyman many political observers had feared. They're plenty influential --  but they’ve become part of the DNA of American politics by operating like para-campaigns for Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

    The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin, American Bridge's Rodell Mollineau and The Huffington Post's Jon Ward join Luke Russert to talk about the state of the race with less than two weeks to election day.

    Super PACs' influence over campaigns hasn’t been quite as Obama and other Democrats first warned.

    “Corporate lobbyists will be able to tell members of Congress if they don’t vote the right way, they will face an onslaught of negative ads in their next campaign,” Obama said in 2010 comments pushing for Congress to adopt the DISCLOSE Act, which would have required more disclosure for donations to these organizations.

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    Rather, super PACs -- and the seasoned political professionals who run such groups -- have stepped forward to assume and bolster some of the traditional functions that might otherwise fall to candidates themselves. Super PACs have hardly been able to dictate the terms of the election, but their absence might have otherwise meant dire straits for candidates who benefited from their spending, primarily on television ads.

    “The outside group can serve the purpose of providing cover to the challenger while the incumbent attempts to define the challenger with dramatically lopsided resources,” said Jonathan Collegio, the communications director for American Crossroads, one of the largest and most influential Republican super PACs.

    NBC News

    American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic Super PAC devoted solely to opposition research. Opposition researchers find the dirt on presidential candidates that turns into the mud that is slung throughout the campaign season.

    Rock Center

    In the presidential campaign and a slew of House and Senate races across the country, super PACs have served varying purposes. They have helped prop up candidates whose own bank accounts are lacking, or have done the dirty work against an opponent that a candidate’s campaign might not be able to execute.

    “Between Crossroads and the Chamber and all of those groups, they’ve done a lot in a lot of our states,” said one Democrat familiar with the party’s Senate campaign efforts. “They’ve probably kept their Republican candidates afloat in a couple of instances.”

    Super PACs and the battle for the White House

    In a similar manner, Romney was the beneficiary of super PAC support at crucial points in his campaign for president. During the Republican primary, a super PAC founded by former aides -- Restore Our Future -- was able to overwhelm Romney’s opposition with millions’ worth of television ads pillorying Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

    And after Romney emerged from that primary, bloodied from the process and with relatively depleted bank accounts, Restore Our Future and Crossroads were able to offer him support on the airwaves -- stepping forth as a kind of surrogate for the GOP nominee in the absence of a more robust campaign effort.

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    In essence, no action or advertisement made by Romney or Obama has gone unanswered. That means no super PAC has been able to dominate the general election, though the countervailing advertising has contributed to a kind of Cold War in politics; each side keeps accelerating its spending, partly for fear of falling behind the other side.

    That sentiment motivated Obama’s own flip-flop toward super PACs earlier this year, when his campaign dropped its objections toward the groups and embraced Priorities USA, a supportive super PAC founded by former Obama aides.

    “With so much at stake, we can't allow for two sets of rules in this election whereby the Republican nominee is the beneficiary of unlimited spending and Democrats unilaterally disarm,” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina wrote in his Feb. 6 missive to Democrats explaining the reversal.

    The Daily Rundown's Chuck takes a deep dive into Colorado. What does it take to win the state, and why is it such a critical piece of the President's path to 270.

    To that end, the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA has spent $52.7 million on the general election, according to NBC News ad-tracking sources, $35.7 million of which has been spent following the Democratic National Convention. Restore Our Future, by contrast, has spent $73 million on the general election, $34.8 of which came after the Republican convention, when Romney got access to the pool of general election funds he had built, but had been unable to access.

    A series of other super PACs have stepped forward to spend millions more on both candidates’ behalf.

    Super PACs and downballot races

    It might be that super PACs’ effect are more pronounced in races downballot, where finances and organization can be more uneven between House and Senate candidates.

    House Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC dedicated to electing members of the House, was able to coordinate with other progressive groups and pool resources and research in a targeted way.

    “One of the ways we’ve been effective is helping to coordinate efforts from a whole host of progressive groups that have traditionally been involved in electoral politics,” said Andy Stone, the group’s communications director. “House Majority PAC has worked to efficiently and effectively use the resources that we have to make a difference in House races, and make sure what happened in 2010 doesn’t happen again -- where House Democrats were just overwhelmed by the last minute by outside money.”

    But there are also limits to what super PACs can accomplish.

    Paul Lindsay, the communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the NRCC appreciates its outside supporters but has tried to lead the way with its own spending.

    “We’ve always worked under the premise that we can only control what is in our organization and capacity,” he said.

    “Candidates matter,” said the Senate Democratic operative, echoing that sentiment. “Super PACs can only do so much.”

    Related: Ohio tops all states in ad spending

    That principle extends to the presidential election, as well. Collegio of American Crossroads argued that it’s up to candidates -- not their supportive super PACs -- to close the deal with voters.

    “Ultimately, outside groups that can’t coordinate are far more effective at making the case against candidates than at making the case for candidates,” he said. “A candidate must push himself or herself over the finish line with their own message and identity.”

  • Obama urges supporters not to lose enthusiasm

    By NBC's Ali Weinberg

     

     

    LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- With a touch of humor and at one point admonition, President Obama urged supporters at a Los Angeles fundraiser here not to lose enthusiasm for his campaign just because he had one lousy debate performance.

    The president kicked off his remarks with an allusion to last Wednesday night that the whole crowd seemed to pick up on. Praising his opening acts at the Nokia Theater here, which included Stevie Wonder, Jon Bon Jovi and Katy Perry, Obama said, “These guys perform flawlessly night after night.”

    “I can’t always say the same,” he continued, waiting a beat for comic timing.

    And later he reminded his audience that he had some imperfect moments during the last campaign as well.

    “Everybody always remembers the victory but they don’t always remember the bumps in the road; things always look good in retrospect.

    “But in the middle of it, we were – we made all kinds of mistakes. We goofed up, I goofed up, but the American people carried us forward,” urging his supporters not to forget that they stuck by him even when he hiccupped in 2008 – something he hopes they do over the next 30 days.

  • Full video and transcript of leaked Romney fundraiser remarks

    By NBC News

    The campaign discussion was dominated Tuesday by remarks made by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at a May 17 fundraiser in Boca Raton, Fla., which were surreptitiously recorded by an anonymous source and surfaced Monday evening. 

    The video was first obtained by Mother Jones magazine and published on its website. The full video of Romney’s remarks has also been obtained by NBC News and is included in two parts below, along with the full transcript.

     

    Watch Part 1 of a surreptitiously-recorded video of Mitt Romney speaking to donors at a May 17 fundraiser, which was held at the home of private equity mogul Mark Leder. The video was was first obtained by Mother Jones magazine and later by NBC News.

    Watch part 2 of a surreptitiously-recorded video of Mitt Romney speaking to donors at a May 17 fundraiser, which was held at the home of private equity mogul Mark Leder. The video was was first obtained by Mother Jones magazine and later by NBC News.

     

     

     * * *BEGINNING OF TRANSCRIPT* * *

    (This is a rush transcript. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

    MITT ROMNEY:  (IN PROGRESS) -- time.  And I guess everybody here is a dignitary and I appreciate your-- your help.  And, by the way, I am serious about the food.  Bring that doug-- doughnuts (?) so-- just try and clear and place-- places and-- and-- but Hillary has to eat her beets.  (LAUGHTER) Okay?

    I-- I'm gonna-- because of-- the table is small enough and the room is-- intimate enough I'd like to-- spend our time-- respond to questions you have.  Listening to advice you might have.  Occasionally, as-- as I did just a moment ago, I get envelopes like that, which is-- and I'll open this.  It'll be campaign ideas.  "Why don't you talk about the following issue?"  So I'm happy to take advice and then we can all vote on whether it's a good piece of advice or bad piece of advice.  (LAUGHTER)

    And-- and so we'll-- we'll-- we'll get a chance to do that.  But I-- I'm-- I'm lookin' to get your-- your perspectives.  I-- just to tell you a couple of things you may not know about me.  You probably know that I'm the father of five and-- and grandfather now of 18.  I-- my oldest son this past-- had two-- had twins-- just last week.  And-- so our-- our grandchild nest is getting larger.  And they are a source of great joy.

    When I was-- when I was probably halfway through my career at Bain consulting I met with a lawyer to draft a will.  And-- and she said, "How do you divide what estate you might eventually have?"  And I said-- (LAUGH) I-- I didn't have anything at that point.  I said, "I wanna divide it equally among my five sons."

    And she said, "Well, how much will you wanna give to the grandchildren that they will ultimately have?"  And I said, "Well, I don't wanna give anything to the-- to the grandchildren.  I'll-- I'll give it to the sons and they in turn will give it to their-- their children as needed."  And she said, "You'll change your mind."  I said,  "No.  No, I don't think so."  So I saw her not long ago.  And I said, "I don't wanna give anything to my sons.  I wanna give (LAUGHTER) it all--" and-- so the-- (UNINTEL PHRASE).  My grand--

    MALE VOICE:  So you-lost Samantha's vote (UNINTEL PHRASE).  (LAUGHTER)

    MITT ROMNEY:  But this-- it-- it's not--

    MALE VOICE:  That's my daughter.  (LAUGHTER)

    MITT ROMNEY:  --it-- it's not just because-- I love my grandchildren, as I do.  I-- (CLUNKING) love my sons and daughters-in-law.  It's that I'm very concerned about what the nation is gonna be like over the coming-- decade or two.  And-- and I-- and I really do.

    As I said in my remarks earlier, I see these two very different scenarios.  One is-- has-- America really powering the world economy with an extraordinary economy here, with China working with us, wanting to see stability in the world-- and-- a very vibrant America with freedom and-- and-- and prosperity for-- the great-- bulk of the American people.  On the other si-- other hand, I really do see something like Europe.  And-- and I think that's the path we're on right now.  So that-- that-- that's why I-- I wanna make sure that what I-- what little I'll have left after the campaigns goes to my-- (LAUGHTER) goes to my-- my grandchildren.

    That's one piece of-- about me that you may not know.  The other is just about my-- my heritage.  My dad, you probably know, was-- was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company, but he was born in Mexico.  And-- had he been born of Mexican parents I'd have a better shot of winning this, but he was-- (LAUGHTER) unfortunately born of Americans living in Mexico.  They'd lived there for a number of years.  And-- I mean I say that jokingly, but it'd be helpful to be-- Latino.  And--

    FEMALE VOICE:  You can pull an Elizabeth Warren.

    MITT ROMNEY:  Pardon?

    FEMALE VOICE:  Pull an Elizabeth Warren.

    MITT ROMNEY: Yeah, that's right.  That's right.  I can (UNINTEL) say.  Folks who don't know Elizabeth Warren-- (FEMALE VOICE:  UNINTEL) --she's the woman who's running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts -- (OVERTALK)

    --who-- who said that she's Cherokee and has put on her application over the years that she's Cherokee and Harvard put down that she's one of their minority-- faculty members.  It turns out that at most she's 1/32nd Cherokee.  (LAUGH) And even that can't be proven.  So-- at any event, I mean I could put down my dad was born in Mexico and leave it at that.  (LAUGHTER)

    But-- but-- but his-- his dad was in construction, very successful, in Mexico, but in America went broke more than once.  So my dad never had the money or time to get a college degree.  Without a college degree, became head of a big car company and ultimately governor.  And-- and believed in America.  Believed in the opportunity of this country.  Never doubted for a moment that he could achieve his dreams.

    And Ann's dad, my wife's dad, was born in Wales.  His dad was a coal miner.  This coal miner got injured in a coal mining accident.  Realizing that there was no future there for him or his four children, then he came to Detroit and-- worked in the auto factories until he could save enough money to bring his kids over, which he did.

    And-- and then they got together as a family and said, "You know, to be successful in America you've gotta get an education."  And they couldn't afford an education.  And the kids and the parents said, "You know, if we all work and we all save we could afford to send one of us to college."  And they-- they sent my wife's dad.  Can you imagine working every day, taking a couple of jobs and saving your money so that your brother could go to-- I mean I would never do that for my brother.  (LAUGHTER)

    But, you know, it-- so he went to college and got a degree at the General Motors Institute of Technology, which-- which is one of these programs where you work a semester and then you go to school a semester.  And-- and-- and then after it was over he started a little company.  He became more successful and he was able to hire his brothers and his brother-in-law and-- and provide for them in an extraordinary way.

    By the way, both-- both my dad and Ann's dad did quite well in their lives-- but when they came to the end of their lives and-- and passed along the inheritances to Ann and to me, we both decided to give it all away.  So I have inherited nothing.  Everything that Ann and I have, we have-- we earned the-- old fashioned way.  And that's (APPLAUSE) by hard work (UNINTEL PHRASE).  I see that all--

    MALE VOICE:  You've just lost the (UNINTEL) vote for a second time.  (LAUGHTER)

    FEMALE VOICE: (UNINTEL PHRASE) jokes (UNINTEL PHRASE).

    MITT ROMNEY:  I say that because there's a perception that, "Oh, you were born with a silver spoon.  You know, you never had to earn anything," and so forth.  And-- and-- and I-- frankly I was born with a silver spoon, which is the greatest gift you could have, which is to get born in America.  And I'll say there is-- let me-- 95% of life is-- is-- is set up for you if you're born in this country.

    And I remember going to-- to-- sorry just to bore you with stories, but I was-- when I was back in my private equity days we went to China to buy a factory there.  It employed about 20,000 people.  And they were almost all-- young women between the ages of about 18 and 22 or 23.  They were saving for potentially becoming married and they work in these huge factories.  They made various-- small appliances.

    And-- as we were walking through this facility, seeing them work, the number of hours they worked per day and the pittance they earned, living in dormitories with-- with little bathrooms at the end of maybe 10-- 10-- rooms.  And the-- and the rooms, they had 12 girls per-- per room.  Three bunk beds-- on top of each other.  And you've seen 'em.  You've seen 'em.

    MALE VOICE:  Oh yeah.

    MITT ROMNEY:  And-- and-- and around this factory was a fence, a huge fence of barbed wire, and guard towers.  And-- and we said, "Gosh, I can't believe that you-- you know, you keep these girls in."  They said, "No, no, no.  This is to keep other people from coming in, because people want so badly to come work in this factory that we have to keep them out or they'll just come in here and start working and-- and-- and try and get compensated.  So we-- this is to keep people out."

    And they said, "Actually, at Chinese New Year's the girls go home.  Sometimes they've decided they've saved enough money and they don't come back to the factory."  And he said-- and so on-- on the weekend after Chinese New Year there'll be a line of people, hundreds long, outside the factory, hoping that some girls haven't come back and they can come to the factory.

    And-- and so as we were experiencing this for-- for the first time for me to see a factory like this in China several years ago, the-- the Bain partner I was with turned to me and said, "You know, 95% of life is settled if you're born in America."  The-- this is-- this is an amazing land.  And-- and what we have is-- is unique.  And fortunately it is so special we're sharing it with the world.

    I am-- I am concerned about the future but also optimistic, as I say.  I-- I-- I look forward to getting America back on track and having-- and having people-- plan on-- on-- on bringing their-- their ideas and their dreams to this country.  We need big dreamers, by the way.

    I'm just-- just-- we didn't talk about immigration today, but gosh I'd like to bring in more legal immigrants that have skill and knowledge.  I'd like to staple a green card to every PhD in the world and say, "Come to America.  We want you here."  Instead we-- we make it hard for people who get educated here or elsewhere to make this their home.

    Unless, of course, you have no skill or experience, in which case you're welcome to cross the border and stay here (LAUGH) the rest of your life.  It's a very strange setup-- run by people who don't understand that we're in a global competition of ideas and-- and our idea has to win, but only if America remains strong.  Well, with that as an introduction-- I-- I-- I'm gonna turn to you for counsel, advice or questions.  Policy questions.  Wanna talk about tax policy?  Or-- or political questions.  How I win?  Please.

    MALE VOICE:  One comment, Governor.

    MITT ROMNEY: Yes.

    MALE VOICE:  The debates are gonna be coming and I hope at the right moment you can turn to President Obama, look at the American people and say, "If you vote to reelect President Obama you're voting to bankrupt the United States."  I hope you keep that in your quiver, because that's what's gonna happen.  And I think it's gonna be very effective.  In some (UNINTEL).

    MITT ROMNEY:  Yeah.  Yeah.  It's-- it's interesting.  There's-- the former head of-- Goldman Sachs, John Whitehead-- was also the former head of the New York Federal Reserve and-- and I met with him and he said, "As soon as the Fed stops buying all the debt that we're issuing--" which they've been doing.  The Feds buy like 3/4 of the debt that America issues.

    He said, "Once-- once that over-- that's over," he said, "we're gonna have a failed Treasury option.  Interest rates are gonna have to go up.  You know, we're-- we're-- we're living in this borrowed-- fantasy world where-- where the government keeps on borrowing money."  You know, we-- we borrow this extra trillion a year.  We wonder, "Well, who's-- who's loaning against the Treasury?  The Chinese aren't loaning to us anymore.  The Russians aren't loaning it to us anymore.  So who's giving us a trillion?"

    And the answer is we're just making it up.  The Federal Reserve is-- is just taking it and saying, "Here, we're-- we're giving--" it's just made up money.  And-- and this-- this does not augur well-- for-- for our economic future.  No.  I mean I-- you know, some of these things are-- are complex enough it's not easy for people to understand, but your-- your point of saying bankruptcy usually concentrates the money.  Yeah, George?

    GEORGE:  Governor, to you-- to your point on complexity, how-- as you travel around America and talk to people in larger groups, perhaps people with different backgrounds or people who are sort of-- to what extent do people really understand that we're hurtling toward a cliff?  And to what extent do people really understand the severity of the-- of the-- fiscal situation we're in?  Do people get it?

    MITT ROMNEY:  They-- they don't.  They-- by and large, people-- people don't get it.  People in our party-- and part of this is our fault, because we've been talking about deficits (RUSTLING) and debt--

    MALE VOICE:  Right.

    MITT ROMNEY:  --for about 25 or 30 years as a party and so they've heard us say it and say it and say it.  The-- the fact that Greece is going through what it's going through, and they read about France and Italy and Spain, has-- has finally made this issue topical for the American people.

    And so when you do polls and you ask people, "What is the biggest issue in the 2012 election?"  Number one is the economy and jobs by a wide margin.  But number two is the deficit.  And-- but the debt and the-- that doesn't-- that doesn't calculate for folks, but the deficit does.  They're-- they're-- they recognize you can't go on forever like this, although the people who recognize that tend to be Republican.  And the people who don't recognize it tend to be Democrat.  And what we have to get is that 5% or 10% in the middle who-- who sometimes vote Republican, sometimes vote Democrat and-- and have them understand how important this is.

    It-- it's-- I mean it's a challenge.  I mean I-- I did the calculation-- for folks today.  And USA Today publishes this every year.  It's a front page story.  The-- the headline once a year that somehow-- escapes people's attention.  And that is if you take the-- the total national debt and the unfunded liabilities of Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid, the amount of debt plus unfunded liabilities per household in America is $520,000.  Per household.

    MALE VOICE:  Which is like 12 times their income.  Right?

    MITT ROMNEY:  At-- at least.

    MALE VOICE:  Ten times (UNINTEL).

    MITT ROMNEY:  Yeah, yeah.  Ten, 12 times their income.  And-- and-- and even though we're not gonna be writing a check for that amount per household, they're gonna be paying the interest on that.  You will be paying the interest on that.  (LAUGHTER) Because we will-- my generation will be long gone and you'll be paying the interest.

    And so you'll be paying taxes not only for the things you want in your generation, but for all the things we spent money on, which is just-- I mean it's-- it's extraordinary to think that tax rates-- someone calculated what would happen if we don't change Medicare or Social Security, the tax rate-- you know what the payroll tax is now?  It's 15.3%.  If we don't change those programs that tax rate will have to ultimately rise to 44%.  (MALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    The payroll tax.  Then there's the income tax on top, which the president wants to take to 40%.  Then there's state tax in most states and-- sales tax and so forth.  You end up having to take 100% of people's income.  And yet the president, three and a half years in, won't talk about reforming Social Security or Medicare.

    And when the Republicans do, it's the, "Oh, you're throwing Granny off the cliff."  It's like, "You're killing the kids."  The-- the biggest surprise that I have is that young people will vote for a Democrat.  They look at this and say, "Holy cow.  The only guys that are worried about the future of our country and our future are Republicans."  But the-- the Democrats-- you know, they-- they talk about social issues, drawing the young people, and-- and they vote on that issue.  It's like-- I mean there won't be any houses like this if-- (LAUGH) if-- if-- if we stay on the road we're on.

    MALE VOICE:  So-- (OVERTALK)

    MITT ROMNEY:  But he-- yeah?  I heard-- I heard a voice.  (MALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)  That's all right.  Please.

    FEMALE VOICE:  Governor Romney, we are former Bostonians.  And we will talk about how we know you.  (LAUGHTER)

    MITT ROMNEY:  Uh-oh.

    FEMALE VOICE:  And-- no, no.  (UNINTEL) good.

    MITT ROMNEY:  Yeah, okay.

    MALE VOICE:  'Cause we-- (OVERTALK)

    FEMALE VOICE:  And--

    MITT ROMNEY:  --pleasure.  Thank you.

    FEMALE VOICE:  We-- hopefully agree to what you say economically, but I would like to know-- I mean-- and I would like you-- and I would like there to be much more discussion on what I consider the real big issues.  And the real big issues are Iran and how would you your point of view differ from President Obama's?

    MITT ROMNEY:  Yeah, thank you.  And-- and I-- by the way, start eating.  Those who have-- those of you who have food in front of you, it's warm.  Start eating.  This has meant-- I'm standing up so I can see you, but I'm not standing up so that you have to stop and look at me.  So-- (LAUGH) and it's important to look at your food as you're eating it.  All right?  (LAUGHTER)  Don't wanna see you putting a fork in your finger here.  (OFF-MIC CONVERSATION)

    MITT ROMNEY:  And you are right, which is-- a nuclear Iran is an unthinkable outcome.  Not just for our friends in Israel and our friends in Europe, but also for us because Iran is the state sponsor of terror in the world.  Has Hezbollah now throughout Latin America.  Hezbollah with fissile material.

    I mean if I were Iran, if I were Iran-- I mean-- and-- and a crazed fanatic, I'd say, "Let's get a little fissile-- material to Hezbollah and have them carry it to Chicago or some other place.  And then if anything goes wrong or America starts acting up, we'll just say, 'And guess what?  Unless you stand down, why, we're gonna let off a dirty bomb.'"  I mean this-- this is where we have-- where America can be held up and blackmailed by Iran.  By the mullahs.  By crazy people.  So-- so we really don't-- have any option but to keep Iran from having-- a nuclear weapon.

    I'll give the specific on Iran and then maybe talk more broadly about foreign policy.  The specific on Iran is-- we should have put in place crippling sanctions at the beginning of the president's term.  We did not.  He will say, "Yes, but Russia wouldn't go along with us."

    Well, he gave Russia their number one foreign policy objective.  For a decade all they've cared about is getting the missile defense sites out of Poland.  And he gave them that and got nothing in return.  He could have, I presume, gotten them to agree to crippling sanctions against Iran.  He did not, which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest foreign policy errors of the modern time.

    And, by the way, if he-- if-- if he could not have gotten that from Russia he should have kept the missile defense sites in Poland-- just-- just to keep a bargaining chip on the table.  I mean-- put nothing in 'em if he wants to.  I mean I would have kept-- I would have kept 'em.  I wouldn't have traded 'em away.  But that's-- that's where he was.

    Number two, we should have been aggressively supporting the voice of the dissent in Iran.  And when there was an effort towards revolution there we should have been aggressively supporting it.  And, finally, we should have made it clear, at least by now, that we have military plans to potentially remove their-- their nuclear capabilities.

    That doesn't mean we actually pull the trigger, but it means that we have-that we communicate to them that we're ready to-- to do so.  And that it is unacceptable to America to have-- a nuclear Iran.  Instead, what this administration has done is communicate to the Iranians that we're more worried about Israel attacking them than we are about them becoming nuclear.  It's-- it's extraordinary.

    So-- those are-- those are some thoughts directed at Iran.  I'll-- I'll step back.  Foreign policy.  The president's foreign policy, in my opinion, is formed in part by a perception he has that his magnetism and his charm and his persuasiveness is so compelling that he can sit down with people like Putin and Chavez and-- and Ahmadinejad and-- and that they'll find we're such wonderful people that they'll go along with us.  And-- and they'll stop doing bad things.

    And it's an extraordinarily naive-- perception and has led to-- huge errors in-- in North Korea, in-- in Iraq-- obviously in Iran and Egypt.  Around the world.  My own view is that-- that the centerpiece of American foreign policy has to be strength.  Everything I do will be calculated to increasing America's strength.

    When you stand by your allies you increase your strength.  When you attack your allies you become weaker.  When you stand by your principles you get stronger.  When you have a big military, that's bigger than anyone else's, you're stronger.  I want to-- when you have a strong economy, you build American strength.  For me, everything is about strength.

    And-- and communicating to people what is and is not acceptable.  It's speaking softly but carrying a very, very, very big stick.  And this president has-- speaks loudly and carries a tiny stick.  And-- and that-- that is-- you know, that-- that's not the right course for a foreign policy.  I-- I saw Dr. Kissinger in-- in New York.  You're not eating.  (LAUGHTER)

    MALE VOICE:  I'm mesmerized.  (LAUGHTER)

    MITT ROMNEY:  He's bored to tears.  I saw Dr. Kissinger.  I said to him-- "How are we perceived around the world?"  And he said, "One word, veek."  (LAUGHTER) We are weak.  And-- and that's has this president is perceived-- by our friends and-- and-- and-- and unfortunately by our foes.

    And-- and it's-- it's no-- it's no wonder that Kim Jong-on-- the new leader of North Korea, announces a long range missile test only a week after he said he wouldn't.  Because it's like, "What's this president gonna do about it?"  You know, if you can't-- you know, if you can't act, why don't-- don't threaten.  Please.

    MALE VOICE:  Just to follow up on the Iran-- (OVERTALK)

    MITT ROMNEY: --by the way.  Yes.  Yeah, I just wanna show you how it's done.  You take this.  (UNINTEL) your fork.  (LAUGHTER) Put it in.  No.

    MALE VOICE:  But just to follow the president (UNINTEL PHRASE).

    MITT ROMNEY:  I'm sorry.  I'm sorry.  Please, go ahead.

    MALE VOICE:  So this (UNINTEL) president we had possibly, Ronald Reagan was able to make a statement even before he became-- was actually sworn in.  The hostages were released.

    MITT ROMNEY:  On the day of his inauguration.

    MALE VOICE:  Right.  So my question is will the-- how can you sort of duplicate that scenario this time?

    MITT ROMNEY:  I'm gonna ask you--

    MALE VOICE:  With the (UNINTEL PHRASE).

    MITT ROMNEY:  --I'm gonna ask you how do I duplicate that scenario.

    MALE VOICE:  I think that that's due to the fact that-- the Iranians perceived Reagan would do something to really get them out.  In other words, that he had strength and that's why I'm (UNINTEL) on your (UNINTEL) about strength.  And that's why I'm suggesting that some-- something that you say over the next few months gets the Iranians to understand that their pursuit of a bomb is something that-- that you would predict (?).  And I think that's something that-- that could possibly resonate very well with the American public and voters.

    MITT ROMNEY:  I-- I appreciate the idea.  I-- I-- I can't-- one of the things that's frustrating me is that-- on a typical day like this when I do three or four events like this, the number of foreign policy questions I get are between zero and one.  And the American people (LAUGHTER) are not--  (FEMALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    --are not concentrated at all upon China, on Russia, Iran, Iraq.  This president's failure to put in place a Status of Forces agreement, allowing 10,000 to 20,000 troops to stay in Iraq?  Unthinkable.  And-- and yet in-- in that election, in the Jimmy Carter election, the-- the fact that we had hostages in-- in-- in Iran, I mean that was all we talked about.

    And we had the two helicopters crash in the desert.  I mean that's-- that was-- that was the focus.  And so him solving that made all the difference in the world.  I'm afraid today if you simply got Iran to agree to stand down on their nuclear weapon they'd go-- you know, hold on.  It's really-- you know, but-- but, by the way, if something of that nature-- presents itself, I-- I will work to find a way to take advantage of the opportunity.  Please.  Yes?

    FEMALE VOICE:  But tonight's your lucky night.  More foreign policy.  (LAUGHTER)

    MITT ROMNEY:  Yes.  Huge (UNINTEL).

    FEMALE VOICE:  (UNINTEL) actually this time you were in (UNINTEL).  And we appreciate you being there.   How do you think that the Palestinian problem can be solved?  And what-- what are you going to do about it?

    MITT ROMNEY:  I-- I'm torn by two perspectives in this regard.  One is the one which I have had for some time, which is that the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace-- and that the-- and that the-- the pathway to peace is-- almost unthinkable to-- to accomplish.

    Now why do I say that?  Some might say, "Well, just let the Palestinians have the West Bank and-- and have security and-- and-- and-- and set up-- a separate nation for the Palestinians."  And then-- and then come a couple of thorny questions.  And I-- I don't have a map here to look at the geography.  But-- but-- the border between Israel and the West Bank is obviously right there, right next to-- to Tel Aviv, which is the-- the financial capital, the industrial capital of Israel.  The center of Israel.  It's--  (MALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    --well, the border would be maybe seven miles from Tel Aviv to what would be the West Bank.

    MALE VOICE:  Nine.

    MITT ROMNEY:  Nine miles.  Okay.  (LAUGHTER) (UNINTEL) close.  Nine miles (UNINTEL).  The challenge is the other side--

    MALE VOICE:  Don't go (UNINTEL).

    MITT ROMNEY:  --on the West Bank--

    MALE VOICE: --don't go head-to-head with (UNINTEL).

    MITT ROMNEY:  The other side of the West Bank, the other side of what would be this new Palestinian state, would either be Syria at one point or-- or Jordan.  And-- and of course the Iranians would want to do through the West Bank exactly what they did through Lebanon.  What they did-- into Gaza.  Which is the Iranians would wanna bring missiles and armament into the West Bank and potentially threaten Israel.

    So Israel of course would have to say, "That can't happen.  We've got to keep the Iranians from bringing weaponry into the West Bank."  Well, that means that who, the Israelis, are gonna-- are gonna-- patrol the border between Jordan, Syria and-- and this new Palestinian nation?  Oh, the Palestinians would say, "No way.  We're an independent country.  You can't-- you can't bor-- you know, guard our border with other Arab nations."

    And-- and how about the airport?  How about flying near to this Palestinian nation?  Are we going to allow-- their military aircraft to come in and-- and weaponry to come in?  And if not, who's gonna keep it from coming in?  Well, the Israelis.  Well-- the Palestinians are gonna say, "We're not an independent nation if Israel is able to come in and tell us who can land at our airport."

    These are problems.  And they're very hard to solve.  (LAUGH) All right?  And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to seek peace anyway for political purposes.  Committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel and these thorny issue-- thorny issues, that I say there's just no way.  And so what you do is you say you-- you move things along the best way you can.

    You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize this is gonna remain unsolved problem.  We-- we live with in-- in China and Taiwan.  All right?  We have-- we have-- a potentially-- volatile situation, but we sort of live with it.  And we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately somehow, something will happen to resolve it.  We don't-- we don't go to war to-- to try and-- resolve it imminently.

    On the other hand, I got a call from a former secretary of State-- and I won't mention which one it was.  But this individual said to me-- "You know, I think there is a prospect for-- for-- a settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis-- after the Palestinian elections."  I said, "Really?"

    And-- you know, his answer was-- was, "Yes.  I think there's some prospect."  And I-- and I didn't-- delve into it, but, you know, I always-- keep open-- I mean I always keep open the idea-- I should tell you, the idea of pushing on the Israelis to give something up to give the paleshin-- to get the Palestinians to act is the worst idea in the world.  We have done that time and time and time again.  It does not work.

    MALE VOICE:  That's (UNINTEL).

    MITT ROMNEY:  So-- so this-- the-- the only answer is show strength.  Again, American strength, American resolve.  As the Palestinians-- someday reach the point where they want peace more than we're tryin' to put-- force peace on them.  And then it's worth having the discussion.  But till then it's just-- it's this legal (?) thing.  (MALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    But it-- you can sit down and (UNINTEL), (OVERTALK)

    MALE VOICE:  I think the--

    MITT ROMNEY:  --do you notice--

    MALE VOICE:  --afterwards?

    MITT ROMNEY:  Please.  (UNINTEL PHRASE).

    MALE VOICE: (UNINTEL) like--

    FEMALE VOICE:  Well--

    MALE VOICE:  -- (UNINTEL PHRASE) possible.  (OFF-MIC CONVERSATION)

    FEMALE VOICE:  The individuals in this room obviously are your supporters.  I am very concerned about the average American who doesn't know you.  There is-- a terrible misconception and I spend numerous hours trying to-- I hate (UNINTEL) the (UNINTEL) when you are in such a deserving individual.

    You were saying years ago-- on a call with George Bush, Senior, and he had-- he called me in my campaign in Massachusetts when you were running for Senate.  I told him that there is a guy named Clinton who's going to beat him for following reasons."  And he laughed.

    Right now I'm very concerned.  Women do not wanna be-- vote for you.  Hispanics, the majority of 'em do not wanna vote for you.  College students don't.  After talking to them and explaining and (UNINTEL) on a one-on-one basis, we are able to change their opinions, but on a mass level, how-- how-- what do you want us to do, this group here, as your emissaries, going out to convert these individuals to someone who's obviously gonna be such an incredible asset to the country.  We want you.

    MITT ROMNEY:  Well--

    FEMALE VOICE:  What do we do?

    MITT ROMNEY:  --I have-- I have some--

    FEMALE VOICE:  Just tell us how we can help you?

    MITT ROMNEY:  --I have some good news for you.  It's not impossible.  And the reason I say that is, for instance, The New York Times had a poll last week.  The New York Times and NBC.  And I was leading by two points among women.  All right?  Now the president came out and he said, "This is an outrageous poll.  They don't know what they're doing."

    But-- by the way, the polls at this stage make no difference at all.  But the point is women are-- are open to supporting me.  They like the president personally.  But they're disappointed.  They're disappointed with the jobs they're seeing for their kids.  They're disappointed with their own economic standing right now.  So we-- we can-- can capture-- women's votes.

    We're having a much harder time with Hispanic voters.  And-- and if the Hispanic voting bloc-- be-- becomes as committed to the Democrats as the African American voting bloc has in-- in the past, why we're-- we're in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation.

    MALE VOICE:  Rubio.

    FEMALE VOICE:  Exactly.

    MITT ROMNEY:  And-- okay.  (OVERTALK)

    MALE VOICE:  Don't (UNINTEL PHRASE).  Don't do it.

    MITT ROMNEY:  And so on the (UNINTEL)--  (LAUGHTER) (OVERTALK)

    We have some great-- we have some great Hispanic leaders in our party that will help communicate what our party stands for.  And-- what-- what I-- frankly, what I need you to do?  Just to raise millions of dollars, 'cause the president's gonna have about $800 to $900 million.  That-- and that's-- that's by far the most important thing you can do.

    FEMALE VOICE:  Is find (UNINTEL).

    MITT ROMNEY:  Because-- well, because you don't-- you-- you don't-- you don't have the capacity to speak to hundreds of thousands of people.  I will be in those debates.  There will be, I don't know, 150 million Americans watching me.  If I do well, it'll help.  If I don't, it won't help.

    MALE VOICE:  You will do--

    MITT ROMNEY:  Well--

    MALE VOICE:  --so well.

    MITT ROMNEY:  --well-- well--

    MALE VOICE:  Your debates are incredible.  (APPLAUSE)

    MITT ROMNEY:  Thank you.  Thanks.  But-- but advertising makes a difference.  And the president will engage in a personal-- character assassination campaign.  And-- and so we'll have to fire back one, in defense and number two, in offense.  And-- and that's-- that'll take money.  By the way, you'll see the ads here in Florida may be one of those states that-- that is-- that is the key state.  And-- and so all-- all the money will get spent in 10 states.  And this is one of them.

    So I-- the best thing I can ask you to do-- I mean, yeah, sure, talk to people and tell 'em what-- how you know me.  And word of mouth makes a big difference.  But, you know, I-- I'm not terribly well known-- by the general American culture because we don't--  (OVERTALK)

    FEMALE VOICE:  You're known as a rich boy.  I mean they say he's a rich boy.

    MITT ROMNEY:  They don't-- (OVERTALK)

    --but don't worry.  Given all--

    FEMALE VOICE:  You're not.

    MITT ROMNEY:  --given all those negative things, given all those negative things, the fact that I'm either tied or close to the president and the fact that, you know, he's out there talking about the one year anniversary of Osama bin Laden being captured, unemployment coming down, unleashing his campaign, new campaign, we're still sort of tied?  That's very interesting.  And-- and it's the-- (UNINTEL) please.

    MALE VOICE:  I-- I would disagree with that.  I think a lot of young children coming out of college feel they were let down by the president.  And they feel that there's not a job out there for them.  And it's (UNINTEL) and it's 60,000, now they're making $30,000.  You know, very similar to the U6 (UNINTEL).  You know, on-- on (UNINTEL).

    MITT ROMNEY:  Yeah, yeah.

    MALE VOICE:  My question to you is why don't you stick up for yourself?  To me you should be so proud of your (UNINTEL).

    FEMALE VOICE:  Right.

    MALE VOICE:  That's what we all aspire to be.  (UNINTEL) ourselves.  We don't really (UNINTEL).  We're away from our families five days a week.  I'm away from my four girls five days a week and my wife.  Why not stick up for yourself and say, "Why is it bad to be-- to aspire to be wealthy and successful?"  You know, "Why is it bad to-- to-kill yourself and why is it bad to cut 30 jobs that net 300?"  You know, when you're people coveting-- cutting jobs.  You see companies that were strict-- that were failing in (UNINTEL PHRASE).  So my question is when does that, you know, doing?  (UNINTEL PHRASE).

    MITT ROMNEY:  Well, I am--

    MALE VOICE:  (UNINTEL) set (UNINTEL PHRASE).  (UNINTEL PHRASE) neighborhood.  And what can we (UNINTEL) up for nothing to (UNINTEL) president's success story (UNINTEL) yours, so--?

    MITT ROMNEY:  If-- if you heard in my speech tonight, I-- I talked to 'em again.  But I didn't--  (MALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    Oh, you weren't here.

    MALE VOICE:  He came here early, so he was (UNINTEL PHRASE).

    MITT ROMNEY:  No, it-- in-- in every stump speech that I give I-- I speak about-- (MALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    --the fact that people who dream and achieve enormous success do not make us poorer.  They make us better off.  And the Republican audience that I typically speak to have (UNINTEL).  I said that tonight and the media's there.  And they-- they write about it.  They say that Romney defends success-- success in America and dreamers and so forth.  So they write about it.

    But in terms of what gets through to the American consciousness-- that's-- I have very little influence on that at this stage.  As to what they write about.  And-- that will happen.  We'll have three debates.  We'll have a chance to talk about that in the debates.  There will be ads which attack me.

    I will fire back in a way that describes-- in the best way we can the fact that if the theme of my speeches are-- are why-- wind up at-- at-- you know, the ambassador heard me today several time-- I wind up talking about how the thing which I find most disappointing in this president is his attack of-- of one America against another America-- America.

    FEMALE VOICE:  Yes.

    MITT ROMNEY:  The divi-- division of America, based on going after those who have been successful.  And then I quote Marco Rubio.  I tell-- in my speeches.  And I say, "Marco Rubio--" did I say-- I think what I said at the-- I (UNINTEL) at the fundraising event earlier today.  But I did when I was in-- Jacksonville.  (OVERTALK)

    Exactly.  I just said, "Senator Rubio says--"  (FEMALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    --"when he grew up here poor, that they looked at people that had a lot of wealth.  And his parents never once said, 'We need some of what they have.  They should give us some.'  Instead they said, 'If we work hard and go to school, someday we might be able to have that.'"  That's-- (APPLAUSE) I will continue to do that.

    How much of that gets picked up?  There are so many things that don't get picked up in a campaign-- because people aren't watching it.  By the way most people don't watch during the summer.  That's gonna-- we're gonna go into a season here, starting from mid-June, of almost no attention paid.  Then, after Labor Day, in September and October, that's when it'll get going.

    MALE VOICE:  For the past three years, all everybody's been told is, "Don't worry.  We'll take care of it."  How are we gonna do it, in two months before the elections, to convince everybody you've gotta take care of yourself?

    MITT ROMNEY:  Well, there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.  All right?  There are 47% who are with him.  Who are dependent upon government, who believe that-- that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they're entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you name it.  But that's-- it's an entitlement.  And the government should give it to them.  And they will vote for this president no matter what.

    And-- and-- I mean the president starts off with 48%, 49%, 40-- or he-- he starts off with a huge number.  These are people who pay no income tax.  47% of Americans pay no income taxes.  So our message of low taxes doesn't connect.  And he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich.  I mean that's what they sell every-- every four years.

    And-- and so my job is not to worry about those people.  I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for for their lives.  What I have to do is convince the 5% to 10% in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion.  Whether they like the guy or not.  What they-- what it looks like.  I mean the-- it's the-- the-- when you ask those people-- we do all these polls.  I find it amazing.  We poll all these people, see where you stand in the polls.  About 45% of the people will vote for the Republican and 48% or 49%--  

     * * *END OF PART ONE* * *

     * * *BEGINNING OF PART TWO* * *

    MITT ROMNEY:  (BREAK IN AUDIO) --about twice as much as China.  Not 10 times as much like is reported.  And-- and-- and we have responsibility for the whole world.  They're only focused on one little area in the world, the South China Sea, the East China Sea.  That's it.  And they're building a military at-- at a rapid rate.

    So-- this idea that somehow we-- oh, we spend so much money on the military.  It's like, "Guys, don't over think how strong we are."  We-- we have said-- you probably know.  This is a couple years ago.  When we had one of our aircraft carriers (UNINTEL) by-- by Japan.  And-- and the Chinese pulled up behind it in-- in a diesel sub, a super quiet diesel sub.  Pulled up behind it.  They could have te-- torpedoed it.  And-- they were (UNINTEL).

    Where-- where does that (UNINTEL)?  Our Navy's smaller in number of ships than anytime since 1917.  And this president wants to shrink it.  The-- the list goes on.  Our Air Force is older and smaller than anytime since '47 when the Air Force was formed.  And he wants to shrink it.  If we go the way of-- of Europe, which is spending 1% to 2% of their economy on the military, we will not be able to have freedom in the world.

    MALE VOICE:  When-- when the electorate tunes in September, the markets are gonna be looking marginal tax rates rates going up.  Another debt ceiling fight.  The sequestration under the debt ceiling deal.  What do they call it?  Taxageddon-- you know, they call it.  (LAUGHTER) The-- the Obamacare-- taxes on dividends and capital gains.  I mean-- it-- (OVERTALK)

    MALE VOICE:  --the markets are gonna be speaking very loudly about COBRA and all of those issues.

    MITT ROMNEY:  They'll-- they'll probably be looking at what the polls are saying, but if it looks like I'm gonna win the market-- markets will be happy.  If it looks like the president's gonna win, the markets should not be terribly happy.  It depends on, of course, which markets you're talking about.  Which types of commodities and so forth.

    But my own view is that if we-- if-- if-- if we win on November 6th there will be-- a great deal of optimism about the future of this country.  And we'll see capital come back and we'll see-- without-- without actually doing anything, we'll (CHUCKLES) actually get a boost in the economy.

    If the president gets reelected, I don't know what'll happen.  I can't-- I can never predict what the markets will do.  Sometimes it does the exact opposite of what I would I ex-- would have expected.  But I-- my own view is that-- that-- if we get a tax-- a Taxageddon, as they call it, January 1st, with this president-- and with a Congress that can't work together and I-- it's-- it really is frightening.  It's really frightening in my view.

    MALE VOICE:  54% of American voters think the Chinese economy is bigger the U.S.' economy.  When I first met you four or five years ago you did the diagram where you went very granular and you said, "Look, guys, this is a small group."  You said, "This is it.  This is-- this is what it is."  Tell us (UNINTEL PHRASE) this.  Not-- how are you gonna win if 54% of the voters think China's economy is bigger than our own?  Or if it costs four cents to make a penny and we keep making pennies?

    Canada got it right a month ago.  Why isn't someone sayin', "Stop makin' pennies.  Round it to the nearest nickel."  That's an easy thing, you know, compared to Iran.  I wanna see you take the gloves off and talk to people that actually read the paper, that read the book and care about knowing the facts and-- knowledge is power.  As opposed to people that are swayed by, you know, what sounds good at the moment.  You know, I-- if you turned into a-- like eager to kill, it would be a landslide, in my humble opinion.  (LAUGHTER)

    MITT ROMNEY:  Well, I-- I wrote a book that lays out my view for what has to happen in the country and-- and people who are fascinated by policy will-- will read the book.  We have a website that lays out white papers on a whole series of issues that I-- I care about.

    I have to tell you, I don't think this will have a significant impact on my electability.  I-- I-- I wish it-- I wish it did, but I think our ads will have a much bigger impact and the debates will have a big impact.  I-- you know, I-- I-- you know, I-- I--

    MALE VOICE:  I don't even know who (UNINTEL) Peterson and he told us--

    MITT ROMNEY:  Well, but that's--  (OVERTALK)

    MALE VOICE:  --we were in trouble 20 years ago.

    MITT ROMNEY:  I-- but that's-- that's my point, which is-- is just being-- being right.  My dad used to say, "Being right-- early is not good in politics."  And-- and-- in a setting like this-- a highly intellectual subject on a whole-- discussion of a whole series of important topics typically doesn't win elections.  And there are-- there are-- there are fra-- and, for instance, this president won because of "hope and change."

    FEMALE VOICE:  Right.

    MITT ROMNEY:  All right?  He won because of "hope and change." (OVERTALK)

    Yeah.  But I-- (LAUGHTER) so-- so it's-- it's-- I-- I-- and I-- I can tell you I have a very good team of extraordinarily experienced, highly successful-- consultants.  A couple of people in particular who've done races around the world.  I didn't realize it.  These guys from the U.S., the-- the Karl Rove equivalents, they do races all over the world.  In Armenia.  In Africa.  In Israel.

    They-- I mean they worked for Bibi Netanyahu in his race.  And so they do these races and they see which ads work and which-- which-- which processes work best.  And-- and-- we have ideas about we-- what we do over the course of the campaign.  I'd tell it to you, but I'd have to, you know, shoot ya.  (LAUGHTER) You know?  Hopefully we'll be successful.  Please?

    MALE VOICE:  I think-- I think one of the aspects about "hope and change" that worked well for Obama four years ago was he promised to bring us more honest, transparent-- (LAUGHTER) governance in Washington.  I've been around politics.  The first campaign I worked in was Barry Goldwater's in 1964.  So I think I'm the oldest Republican here (UNINTEL PHRASE).

    But-- from what I've seen in the last months because of my own personal involvement in the issue is-- is the government in Washington right now just is permeated by cronyism, outright corruption.  Our-- our regulatory agencies that are supposed to protect the public are protecting the people that they're supposed to be regulating.

    And-- I think people are fed up with that.  Doesn't matter whether you're in the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street, people see that the government is working for the powerful interests and the people who are well connected politically and not for the common person.  Which threatens that whole idea that we have this great opportunity.

    Which we should have and have had that historically in the U.S. for anybody from what background to become successful.  One way in which that becomes compromised is when the government is no longer seen as being an honest agent and where our tax dollars are not really-they're being put to work for us but for the people who are plugged in politically (UNINTEL PHRASE).  You know, you have-- you had cases like Solyndra and the Fullbush (PH), which I talk about (UNINTEL) involved in.  You've got Eric Holder, who's probably the most corrupt attorney general that we've had ever in-- in-- in American history.  And-- I think it's something that-- that-- if spun the right way and in simple terms, can actually resonate with the American people.

    Obama did not keep his promises.  Nancy Pelosi was supposed to give us an honest Congress.  Has-- has given us just the opposite when she was speaker.  And-- I think that's a campaign issue that can work well.  I'm optimistic that you'll be elected president and my recommendation would be clean house immediately.  SEC, the CFBC-- are-- are-- are disaster areas.  And--  (OVERTALK)

    MITT ROMNEY:  And what-- I wish we weren't unionized so we could go a lot deeper than you're actually allowed to go.  But-- (MALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    Am I in the way here?  Yeah.  I-- I-- I can say this, which-- and I'm sure you'll agree with this as well, which is we-- we speak with-- with voters across the country about their perceptions.  Those people I told you, the 5%, to 6% or 7% that we have to sort of bring on-- on our side?  They all voted for Barack Obama four years ago.

    So-- and, by the way, when you-- when you say to them, "Do you think Barack Obama is a failure?"  they overwhelmingly say, "No."  They like him.  But when you say, "Are you disappointed that his policies haven't worked?" they say, "Yes."  And-- and because they voted for him they don't wanna be told that they were wrong.  That he's a bad guy.  That he did bad things.  That he's corrupt.

    The-- these-- those people that we have to get, they want to believe they did the right thing but he just wasn't up to the task.  They love the phrase that he's over his head.  But if we're-- when we-- but, you see, you and I, we spend our day with Republicans.  We spend our days with people who agree with us.  And-- and these people are people who voted for him and don't agree with us.

    And-- and so the things that animate us are not the things that animate them.  And the-- and the best success I have in speaking with those people is saying, you know, "The president's been a disappointment.  He told you he'd keep unemployment below 8%.  Hasn't been below 8% since.

    "50% of kids coming out of school can't get a job.  50%.  50% of the kids in high school in our 50 largest cities won't graduate from high school.  What are they gonna do?"  And the-- these are the kinds of things that-- that I can-- I can say-- to-- to that audience that-- that they nod they head and say, "Yeah, I think you're right."

    What he's gonna do, by the way, is try and vilify me as someone who's been successful.  Or who's-- or who's, you know, closed businesses or laid people off and this is an e-- an evil bad guy.  And that may work.  I-- I actually think that right now people are saying, "I want someone who can make things better.  That's what-- that's gonna motivate me.  Who can get jobs for my kids and get rising incomes."  And I hope to be able to be the one that wins that battle.  Yeah, please.

    FEMALE VOICE:  I've seen Obama a lot of times on these sort of talk shows, making (UNINTEL PHRASE).  I've never seen you on-- on any of them.  And I think a lot of (UNINTEL), especially, you know, (UNINTEL PHRASE) talking about, I think they will (UNINTEL) see you in a different light, because I think a lot of women, especially, do not watch debates.  They don't come to these functions.  They can maybe you have to show your face more on TV and talk in your just, like, regular aesthetic.  Is that (UNINTEL PHRASE).   (UNINTEL) the typical (UNINTEL PHRASE).  But it's--

    MITT ROMNEY:  It's (UNINTEL).

    FEMALE VOICE:  It's (UNINTEL).  Yeah.

    MITT ROMNEY:  See, in Sweden, you'd-- you'd say Johansen  (LAUGHTER) (UNINTEL PHRASE) about that.

    FEMALE VOICE:  So I think maybe you could reach a lot of new votes.

    MITT ROMNEY:  Well, thank you.  I-- I have been on The View  twice now.  (LAUGHTER) But-- (UNINTEL PHRASE) President Obama.  I've been on The View twice.  (OVERTALK)

    It went-- it went very well.  (FEMALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    But-- Regis is gone.

    MALE VOICE:  Kelly and Michael Straham (UNINTEL PHRASE).

    MITT ROMNEY:  And I've done the-- I've done the night-- the-- the evening shows.  I've been on Letterman a couple of times.  I've been on-- on Leno-- more than a couple of times.  And now Letterman hates me because I've been on Leno more than him.  (LAUGHTER) So (UNINTEL)-- very, very jealous of one another, as you know.

    And-- and there's-- I was asked to go on Saturday Night Live.  I-- I did not do that in part because you-- you wanna show that you're fun and you're a good person, but you don't wanna-- you-- you also wanna be presidential.  And Saturday Night Live has the potential of-- of looking slapstick and not-- and not presidential.

    FEMALE VOICE:  I agree.

    MITT ROMNEY:  But The View was-- The View was fine.  Although The View is-- is high risk because of-- of the five women on it, only one is conservative.  Four-- (FEMALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    --are-- are sharp tongued and-- and not conservative.  Whoopi Goldberg in particular.  Although last time I was on the show she said to me, "You know what?  I think I could vote for you."  And I-- and I said, "I must have done something really wrong."  (LAUGHTER)  I-- (FEMALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    I'm gonna sit down and enjoy my-- Darlene, you get the last word.

    DARLENE:  I was just gonna say that I think-- our media strategy that will be sending Ann on The View and having her sit there.

    FEMALE VOICE:  Yes.

    MITT ROMNEY:  Got it.

    FEMALE VOICE:  Because she, I think, is your-- your best surrogate (UNINTEL).

    FEMALE VOICE:  Yes.

    FEMALE VOICE:  Your best advocate.  She--

    FEMALE VOICE:  I agree.

    FEMALE VOICE:  --connects so well.  I mean we talked so much about this (UNINTEL) and somebody said, "Oh, many people think of you as a rich-- rich guy."  And those of us who know you know that's-- you know--

    MITT ROMNEY:  You know--

    FEMALE VOICE:  --not the-- not--

    MITT ROMNEY:  --I'm poor as a church mouse, right?

    FEMALE VOICE:  Yeah, yeah.  (OVERTALK)

    FEMALE VOICE:  Well, we do know that you've (UNINTEL PHRASE).  Or (UNINTEL). 

    MITT ROMNEY:  My (UNINTEL).  Yeah.

    FEMALE VOICE:  And that Ann really connects with people and she can tell the story about her father.  And she's the (UNINTEL) person who can sit with Matt Lauer and go on Good Morning America (UNINTEL PHRASE) and go on The View and hold her own with all of these people.  And really-- get you I think the women connecting to you more (UNINTEL).

    FEMALE VOICE:  Especially more (UNINTEL).  And I think she's-- she's a great--

    MITT ROMNEY:  I hate to (UNINTEL) you.  (UNINTEL PHRASE).  We-- we-- we use Ann sparingly right now so that people don't get tired of her or-- or start attacking.

    FEMALE VOICE:  (UNINTEL) get tired of it.  Who gets--

    MITT ROMNEY:  And--

    FEMALE VOICE:  --tired of Ann (UNINTEL)?  (LAUGHTER)

    MITT ROMNEY:  I'll tell you-- but-- but you will see more of her-- in the September, October timeframe.  And-- you know, we have a -what's her name- in Hillary Rosen, who-- who, you know, attacked her and-- and that-- that made Ann much more visible to the American people, which I think was very helpful.  It gave her a platform she wouldn't have had otherwise.  And-- I agree with you.  I think she will be extraordinarily helpful.

    FEMALE VOICE:  Just to sort of-- (UNINTEL PHRASE), people who friended her on Facebook or what-- whatever happened after the Hillary Rosen thing, just-- that shows you the value of social networking and just, like, how important media can be to selections like that.  I-- I just think that she is-- is (UNINTEL).  And I know she wants-- she wants you to win for (UNINTEL).

    MITT ROMNEY:  She's out there.

    FEMALE VOICE:  She is.

    MITT ROMNEY:  She's in-- she's in-- in Texas tonight.  She was in Louisiana last night.  She's-- raising money in those places.  (FEMALE VOICE:  UNINTEL)

    She was at Ben Crenshaw's house for dinner today.  Tonight.  Isn't that something?  So there are some benefits.  (LAUGH) One of the benefits is eating the world's best dessert, which I will.  Thank you.  (APPLAUSE) You've been great.

     (OFF-MIC CONVERSATION)

                                    * * *END OF TRANSCRIPT* * *

    Related stories:

     

  • Team Romney raises $111 million in August

    By NBC's Garrett Haake

     

    BOSTON -- Mitt Romney's campaign and its fundraising allies announced Sunday they had brought in $111.6 million dollars last month, making August the most lucrative fundraising month yet for the GOP nominee and the third straight month Team Romney has raised more than $100 million dollars.

    In a press release, the campaign said it now has $168.5 million in cash-on-hand between the Romney campaign, the Republican National Committee and the state parties which combine to make up the so-called "Romney Victory" fund. The Obama re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised more than $114 million in August, campaign manager Jim Messina said early Monday morning, Reuters reported. 

     The Romney campaign said 94% of the donations they received in August came from donors who gave less than $250 dollars apiece, for a total of $34.6 million dollars, and that donations came from all 50 states the District of Columbia.

    On August 10th, Romney announced the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, and the campaign touted the subsequent spike in online giving for days after the selection as a sign of increased grassroots support for the Republican effort.

    A joint statement from Romney national finance chairman Spencer Zwick and RNC chairman Reince Priebus used the fundraising totals to continue to push the campaign's latest motivating question, meant to undermine support for President Obama: Are voters better off today than they were four years ago?

    “Americans are not better off than they were four years ago and they are looking for a change of leadership. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are offering bold solutions to our country’s problems – that is why we are seeing such tremendous support from donors across the country," Zwick and Priebus said.

     

  • GOP rabbi calls Adelsons 'heroes to our community' after getting $500,000 for super PAC

    By Michael Isikoff, NBC News

    Just hours before the Republican National Convention played a campaign video Wednesday night showing Mitt Romney at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, his single-biggest financial backer -- billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson -- made a rare public appearance, telling reporters at a Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) event that the GOP presidential candidate is “very pro-Israel” and is “going to defend what he thinks is best for the relationship” between Israel and the United States.

    Sheldon Adelson and wife Miriam arrive at the Republican Jewish Coalition's event in Tampa on August 29th, 2012. Adelson is greeted by U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz, of Texas.

    But Adelson, who with his wife has given $10 million to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future super PAC, never had the chance to expand on his views about the Middle East or respond to questions about his mega donations to the GOP cause. As soon as the frail but feisty 79-year-old chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. sat down -- after making a grand entrance clutching a cane and assisted by his Israeli-born wife -- RJC coalition organizers chased away members of the media, repeatedly shouting: “The event is over! We’re going to close this down!”

    (Later that evening, a producer with the radio show Democracy Now sought to question Adelson —  being accompanied by Karl Rove — while he was being taken by wheel chair to a fourth floor corporate skybox at the convention. In an incident caught on videotape here, the producer, Mike Burke, reported that a woman identified as Adelson’s daughter grabbed his camera, took it into the skybox and threw it on the ground. Burke said the daughter later apologized.) 

    Lior Mizrahi / Getty Images

    U.S. gaming tycoon Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam arrive to hear Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney delivers foreign policy remarks on July 29, 2012 in Jerusalem, Israel.

    The brief appearance by Adelson came at a spirited event where top members of Congress rubbed elbows with wealthy GOP donors and “Obama ... Oy Vey!” buttons were freely distributed to attendees. At the same time, new details emerged about Adelson’s role in steering supersize checks to groups working to defeat the president and elect Republican members of Congress.

    Shortly before Adelson arrived, celebrity rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of “Kosher Sex” and a one-time spiritual adviser to Michael Jackson who is now running as a Republican candidate for Congress from New Jersey, boasted that Adelson and his wife had recently given $500,000 to “my super PAC” and that they were “heroes of our community.”

    Boteach later told reporters that he had then dined with Adelson this week during the RNC convention. “Well, I mean, look they’re friends,” he said of Adelson and his wife. “They don’t need me to tell them where to give their money. They’re very savvy political donors.”

    As for the super PAC, called “Patriot Prosperity PAC,” Boteach at first said that, while “we obviously don’t have any contact with them,” it was “set up by the professionals who run my campaign.” 

    NBC's Michael Isikoff reports on Republican VP pick Paul Ryan's meeting last night in Las Vegas with some big-dollar GOP donors, including casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson, for a private talk about the campaign.

    Although the half-million dollar donation by Adelson and his wife to the “Patriot Prosperity PAC” had already been reported, Boteach’s  reference to “my super PAC” and his reference to it being “set up” by his campaign “professionals”  seemed to raise fresh questions about whether the donations complied with federal election laws. Those laws bar campaign committees from coordinating their activities with supposedly independent super PACs -- which are allowed to take unlimited donations.

    But when pressed by reporters about his comments about the origins of the group, the rabbi corrected himself.

    “No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” he said when asked if his campaign staff had set up the super PAC donations. “Let’s not pull me into something that I am not -- I said the people who run my campaign are the ones who tell me what we’re allowed to do and what we’re not allowed to do. And we are allowed to tell the people who support us that if they want to support us, there was a super PAC. And that’s what we did. That’s exactly what I meant.”

    Adelson’s contributions in the 2012 election --- now, combined with those of his wife, total more than $40 million -- have stirred controversy, in part because of his hardline views on Israel (he is a close friend of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu) but also because of ongoing federal investigations into his gambling empire over allegations that it has paid bribes to Chinese officials.

    Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a candidate for U.S. Congress from New Jersey, discusses Sheldon Adelson's gift to the Super PAC supporting Boteach's campaign.

    Also this week, Bloomberg News reported that Adelson’s Sands Corp. -- which generates more than half of its multibillion-dollar revenues from four casinos in Macau -- could see its profits soar if Romney were elected and fulfills his pledge to demand that China loosen currency restrictions, allowing the value of the yuan to rise against the dollar.

    Adelson’s appearance was the highlight of the RJC event -- partly sponsored by Comcast (owner of NBC News) -- which was attended by other big GOP donors such as hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer. Also present: GOP Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Allen West of Florida, Ed Royce of California and Renee Ellmers of North Carolina.

    The event -- briefly interrupted by two protesters who loudly denounced Israeli policies towards the Palestinians and were quickly evicted -- was marked by multiple denunciations of Obama’s policies to Israel.

    “I don’t know how there are any Democratic Jews,” said GOP Rep. Billy Long of Missouri. “The way the president has treated [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi Netanyahu and the land of Israel, I don’t know how any Democratic Jew can still be a Democrat.”

    NBC’s Jamie Novogrod also contributed to this story.

  • Romney: 'I am who I am'

    AP: “The threat of Tropical Storm Isaac left delegates to the Republican National Convention recalibrating Sunday but insistent that the show will go on with just a few modifications due to the weather. The GOP postponed most of Monday’s lineup, cramming four days of events into three with hopes for a major send-off for Mitt Romney on Thursday.”

    Romney did interviews in Ohio Sunday before the convention, with Fox News, Politico and USA Today. On FOX, he accused the president of character assassination. 

    Politico: “Mitt Romney conceded President Barack Obama has succeeded in making him a less likable person, but he offered a defiant retort to those hoping he will open up this week: ‘I am who I am.’”

    He added, “I don’t think everybody likes me. I don’t believe that, by any means. But I do believe that people of this country are looking for someone who can get the country growing again with more jobs and more take-home pay, and I think they realize this president had four years to do that. … He got every piece of legislation he wanted passed, and it didn’t work. I think they want someone who has a different record, and I do. 

    More: “I was voted the president of my fraternity,” he said. “They don’t call them fraternities at Brigham Young University. They’re called Service Clubs. It was the Cougar Club. But you don’t get voted to be head of your group if you don’t get along with people, if you don’t connect with people.”

    And: “Certainly, their ads have some impact or they wouldn’t be running them. But there would be an opportunity for people to get to know me better during the debates and during the time in the campaign season when people are actually paying a lot of attention to the candidates." 

    Politico’s take: “His language, his approach, his mannerisms convey: I am not asking you to trust me to see into your soul, or to feel your pain, or bring you hope and fuzzy change. I will bring you concrete, measurable, profitable change — the kind you can authentically take stock of, and even measure in your family’s bank account.”

    ‘I am who I am,’ and all business” is on the cover of the Tampa Bay Times from the Politico interview.

    USA Today: “Mitt Romney calls campaign attacks by President Obama and his allies ‘vituperative’ and ‘vicious’ and ‘absurd’ and ‘sad.’ Also: Effective.”

    Romney: "I do think that the president's campaign of personal vilification and demonization probably draws some people away from me.”

    But: “Romney defends the welfare ads as accurate, accusing Obama of offering state waivers as a political calculation designed to ‘shore up his base’ for the election.” He also said he doesn’t regret his birth certificate joke: "I understand some people don't think we should ever joke.”

    Flashback to Jan. 30, Today Show, when Romney was asked about his campaign’s attacks on Gingrich ahead of Florida: "There's no question that politics ain't bean bags, and we have made sure that our message is out loud and clear.”

    Romney also told USA Today, "We won't be talking about my life. We'll be talking about policy." But his campaign team is certainly concerned about his image problems. Said pollster Neil Newhouse: "Even more than a ballot bounce we are looking for an image bounce, we are looking for voters to learn more about who Mitt Romney is, what he stands for, his character and something they can connect with.” 

    And he himself put the personal on display on FOX: “Beginning the effort two days before the weather-delayed start of the convention in Tampa, Romney put his family-man qualities on display Sunday in a television interview at his lakeside home in Wolfeboro, N.H. Romney made buttermilk pancakes with his wife, Ann, for Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace and strolled the grounds of his family’s vacation compound with a young grandson on his hip,” the Boston Globe writes. “Romney discussed policy, yes, but devoted more time to personal matters, showing off the household ‘chore wheel’ and laughing about his struggle -- at age 65 -- to keep up in the annual ‘Romney Olympics.’”

    Political Wire: “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) ‘wasn't willing to give up the New Jersey statehouse to be Mitt Romney's running mate because he doubted they'd win,’ the New York Post reports. ‘Romney's top aides had demanded Christie step down as the state's chief executive because if he didn't, strict pay-to-play laws would have restricted the nation's largest banks from donating to the campaign -- since those banks do business with New Jersey. But Christie adamantly refused to sacrifice his post, believing that being Romney's running mate wasn't worth the gamble.’” 

    Ron Paul doesn’t want to “fully endorse” Romney.

    Party town? Stip clubs “all braced for a windfall from the Republican National Convention — three times a Super Bowl weekend was the industry number thrown around — but at least early Sunday morning many wondered if conservatives were being, well, conservative,” the Tampa Bay Times writes.

  • 2012: Tough not AFP spot

    Here’s a brutal Americans for Prosperity ad featuring people claiming they voted for Obama in 2008 and are now disappointed.

    Huffington Post: “Voters are allowed to kick a likable guy out of office. That's the core message…. The $7 million ad buy features several former Obama supporters sharing frustrations with the president's first term, claiming to personally like him, but disapproving of his policies.”

  • Romney: Finance event vs. fundraiser

    The Romney campaign says it’s raised $7.4 million online from more than 101,000 donations since Ryan was picked.

    But: “Four days after his announcement as Mitt Romney’s running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan was not in Florida talking Medicare with elderly voters or in drought-ridden Iowa talking about a farm bill. He traveled to the Venetian hotel here for a meeting hosted by Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul who has pledged to spend as much as $100 million this year to defeat President Obama,” the New York Times writes.

    And how’s this for blurring the lines: “[I]n keeping with laws that prohibit elected officials from explicitly asking donors for super PAC money, aides to Mr. Romney insisted before the event that the meeting was not a fund-raiser. ‘It’s a finance event, not a fund-raiser,’ an aide told reporters. Asked if people were paying to attend, he repeated, ‘It’s a finance event, not a fund-raiser.’”

    Romney was interviewed by Fortune. He continued to claim: “high-income people would continue to pay the same share of the tax burden that they do today.” Yet he won’t say how that’s possible, given that he hasn’t outlined his offsets for the about $150,000 tax cut he would give those making more than $1 million a year, according to the Tax Policy Center.  He also seemed to rule out eliminating the mortgage-interest deduction. “I will not do that for middle-income taxpayers,” he said. And he huffed about the Tax Policy Center: “They made garbage assumptions and they reached a garbage conclusion.” And he claimed this:  “President Obama raises taxes on the middle class.”

    He pointed to Simpson-Bowles for the things he’d eliminate (though, of course, one of them was the home-mortgage-interest deduction). Instead of laying out what he’d push for, he said again he would “work with Congress to identify which of the alternative methods we should apply to reduce deductions, benefits, and exemptions.”

    He also said that that infrastructure “is going to see very substantial investments in the coming decade. I'm talking about highways as well as rail and air and communications infrastructure.”

    To cut spending, Romney says he’d eliminate ObamaCare, subisidies for PBS, Amtrak, the National Endowment for the Arts, and eliminate fraud and abuse in Medicaid, housing vouchers, food stamps and let them be taken over by the states. He also says he’d cut federal workers by 10% through attrition and adjust their salaries to line up with the “private sector.” He claims he’d create 12 million new jobs with GDP growth of 4%.

    Romney is pre-butting potential Democratic attacks on Medicare now that he’s picked Paul Ryan by going on air with an ad charging that Obama cuts $700 billion from Medicare. The ad, “Paid In,” is the first ad with Romney and Ryan together.

    The ad is reminiscent of the Obama 2008 campaign’s attack on John McCain. 

  • Romney: Koch listed as Romney delegate

    David Koch is a Romney delegate, National Journal reports: “The New York Republican Party listed Koch as one of the state's 34 at-large delegates on a roster provided by the party. Koch, whose position atop Koch Industries gives him a net worth that Forbes estimates at $25 billion, has fueled tens of millions of dollars into philanthropies in New York City. But he's best known in the political world as the driving force behind Americans for Prosperity, the 501(c)(4) organization that claims nearly 2 million members who advocate for conservative causes. The group has already spent more than $17 million on television campaign advertisements this year alone. Earlier this week, AFP announced it would spend an additional $25 million on a monthlong advertising buy in 11 battleground states.”

    Political Wire: “The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, "familiar as the producer of a ubiquitous plant fertilizer, is now a political player, donating $200,000 in June to the Restore Our Future super PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney," the Washington Post reports.”

    What does Obama failing Ohio have to do with Oklahoma in a Romney ad?

    Romney’s Israel ad is running in West Palm Beach, FL, with $50,000 behind it from Aug. 9-14, Politico reports.

    Really, are Republicans ready to embrace Trump? “Donald Trump has declined an offer to deliver a prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention, sources with knowledge of convention plans tell Newsmax. But Newsmax has learned that the billionaire businessman has been asked to give a big ‘surprise’ at the convention in Tampa, Fla., which begins on Aug. 27.”

    For what it’s worth, neither the RNC nor the Republican National Convention would confirm nor deny the story. Instead, convention spokesman Kyle Downey would only say: “We announced several headliners earlier this week and will continue to announce more headliners and participants, including the keynote, in the days and weeks ahead.”

    That was even when asked if they were OK with having the perception out there that Trump was invited to speak in prime time and would have a prominent role at the convention. So they’re not denying it (letting it be out there) and they’re not copping to it (wanting some distance).

    The New York Times: "Look closely and it is there, sandwiched between Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Partners II and D3 Family Bulldog Fund: the mortgage on Timothy and Betty Stamps’s modest home on Gentle Bend Drive here. Nearly lost among the blizzard of hedge funds, thoroughbred horses and other gold-plated investments in Mitt Romney's personal financial disclosures, the interest from the $50,500 mortgage is loose change to Mr. Romney, whose net worth has been estimated at close to a quarter-billion dollars. Yet for the Stampses, who have been writing $600 monthly checks to ‘Willard M. Romney’ for 15 years, the money they borrowed from him to buy their home in 1997 was life-changing." 

  • Obama: Priorities' negative TV ad turning heads

    “The latest ad by the pro-Obama Priorities USA Action super political action committee, part of a $20 million campaign, is the most intense negative media attack yet on Romney for his 15-year stewardship of the Bain Capital private equity firm and the layoffs that sometimes resulted from the firm’s cost-cutting at its takeover targets,” the AP writes. “Soptic’s conclusion that Romney bears some blame in his wife’s death is not backed up factually in the ad.”

    “The super PAC backing President Obama unveiled a brutal new ad against Mitt Romney on Tuesday that blames the Republican candidate for indirectly causing a woman's death from cancer,” the New York Daily News writes, adding, “Ads run by super PACs are typically harsher than the candidates' own campaign ads, although the Priorities USA ad called ‘Understands’ is turning heads even by those standards.”

    And: “[A]ccording to a Politico report, the woman didn’t die until 2006 – years after the plant shut down and near the end of Romney’s tenure as governor of Massachusetts. Priorities USA strategist Bill Burton told Politico that her death was still related to Romney’s oversight of Bain.”  

    “In 1990, basketball superstar Michael Jordan famously refused to endorse Democrat Harvey Gantt in a North Carolina Senate race, saying ‘Republicans buy shoes, too,’” the Boston Globe notes. “Twenty-two years later, Jordan is apparently no longer worried about sneaker sales. The Hall of Famer will headline a celebrity basketball game that will double as a fund-raiser for President Obama, the Obama campaign announced Tuesday. Other high-profile participants in the Obama Classic will include Patrick Ewing, Carmelo Anthony, Sheryl Swoopes, Kyrie Irving and Alonzo Mourning.”

  • 2012: Romney gets hammered on tax plan

    The Tampa Bay Times’ editorial board rips Romney’s tax plan, based on the Tax Policy Center’s analysis: “The numbers speak volumes about the Romney campaign's priorities. While President Barack Obama is proposing that taxes rise on the wealthiest Americans by letting the Bush tax cuts lapse only for those with incomes of $250,000 or more, Romney would flip that formula and give further breaks to the nation's millionaires, people who are already paying the lowest effective tax rate in 60 years.”

    And: “If he has a dispute with the results, he needs to provide specifics on just how he will provide massive tax relief to those at the top without adding to the tax burdens of average people.”

    Here’s a tough ad, which claims that Romney “pay less, you pay more,” that his plan would raise taxes on all but the rich, and the Washington Post’s fact checker calls it accurate: “This ad is tough, but we cannot fault the accuracy of its key points. To some extent, the Romney campaign has been hoist with its own petard by refusing to provide sufficient detail that shows how the numbers add up in Romney’s tax and budget plans. So we are left with the judgment of a respected and independent third party. We hold campaign ads to a high standard, particularly attack ads. If Romney releases the missing details, and a new analysis finds that Romney can meet the stated goals of his tax plan, then we can certainly revisit this analysis. But, until then, for the first time in this frequently nasty campaign, we award a rare Geppetto Checkmark for a campaign ad.”

    Priorities USA is up with an ad hitting Romney for the closing of a steel plant that led to a man and his family not being able to afford health insurance, and the man’s wife died of cancer.

    The New York Times looks at the swing vote of unmarried women: “Single women are one of the country’s fastest-growing demographic groups — there are 1.8 million more now than just two years ago. They make up a quarter of the voting-age population nationally, and even more in several swing states, including Nevada. And though they lean Democratic — in a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, single women favored Mr. Obama over his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, by 29 points — they are also fickle about casting their ballots, preoccupied with making ends meet and alienated from a political system they say is increasingly deaf to their concerns. But the Obama campaign, needing their support to offset traditional Republican strength among married women, is lavishing attention on them.”

    Gallup says Obama’s getting fewer 2008 voters than Romney is from the Republican side. Well, yeah. That’s why this is a close election. 2008 was an electoral landslide.

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